The Passion Gospel is so long and such a powerful statement in and of itself that some clergy don’t follow it with a sermon. This is at least a short sermon! Delivered at Ascension Episcopal Church, Hinton, WV, on Palm Sunday, April 1, 2007.
“True Bread and True Life” – Lent 4 Year C
George Herbert’s “Love (3)” and the Prodigal Son figure in this sermon delivered on March 18, 2007, at Ascension Episcopal Church, Hinton, West Virginia. It follows the bread crumbs that trail through the readings and collect for the day.
Let the Reader Understand
This is a document prepared by a group from the Diocese of New York and offered to the Church prior to General Convention 2003. It provides, in my opinion, an excellent outline, with commentary, of how Scripture should be read and understood. Inasmuch as the on-going debate within The Episcopal Church and in the larger Anglican Communion centers on just how one understands Scripture, this is an important topic. I have posted this primarily for the benefit of my companions in Fresh Start, a program for clergy assigned to new positions, but I commend it to anyone’s study.
Background Essay – The Church and Homosexuality
This is a document created by a Luthern study group which examines Scripture with respect to the issue of homosexuality and what the Bible says about it. I have posted this for the convenience of those participating with me in Fresh Start (a program for clergy in new assignments). Even a quick glance at this material will show that a significant amount of prayerful work went into its creation.
Anxious Systems and The Episcopal Church
This sermon is based on some of the family systems concepts championed by Rabbi Edwin Friedman and how they are reflected in the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent (Year C, BCP lectionary). It was delivered at Ascension Episcopal Church on March 4, 2007.
It follows the meeting at Dar es Salaam of the Primates of the Anglican Communion.
Matthew 6:1-6,16-24 – Treasures on Earth
Wilderness time is not for the faint of heart, for it is a time when we intentionally remove our blinders and try to look honestly at ourselves. Delivered on Ash Wednesday at Ascension Church, Hinton, West Virginia, February 21, 2007.
Luke 9:28-43 – The Feast of the Transfiguration
Paul’s epistle to the church at Corinth contains a very moving passage: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Delivered on the Last Sunday After the Epiphany at Ascension Episcopal Church, Hinton, West Virginia, on February 18, 2007.
Luke 6:17-26 – Blessings and Woes
What does it mean to say “God bless you?” Delivered at Ascension Episcopal Church, Hinton, West Virginia, on the Sixth Sunday after The Epiphany, February 11, 2007
Luke 5:1-11 – The Call of the First Disciples
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Delivered at Ascension Episcopal Church on the Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany, February 4, 2007.
Luke 4:21-32 – The Prophet in His Hometown
“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” Delivered at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, WV, January 28, 2007.